Deon Fourie broke his hand in Saturday’s warm-up match against the Kings and will miss the start of the Super Rugby competition.

The Stormers have confirmed that Fourie’s hand is broken and that he will be out of action for four to six weeks. The Cape side is fortunate to have the seasoned Tiaan Liebenberg on their books, but outside of Liebenberg and Skara Ntubeni there are no other hookers with Super Rugby experience.

The good news for the Stormers is that Andries Bekker and Duane Vermeulen played 30 minutes in Saturday’s match and are on course to play in the Stormers’ opening Super Rugby match against the Hurricanes.

Last Saturday’s game marked the comeback for both Bekker and Vermeulen since they sustained injuries in the 2011 Super Rugby competition.